The incident took place in the Solu District of Nepal, about 30 miles
SW of Mt. Everest, on the farm of a neighbor of my father-in-laws'.

The farmer went out to tend to his corn patch in the morning. He arrived
to find a Himalayan black bear having his breakfast in the corn patch.
The bear did not take kindly to having his breakfast interrupted and charged
the farmer.

The farmer had only his khukuri, made by Solu knife maker, Kancha Kami,
to defend himself against the attack. He knew that he could not outrun
the bear so his only choice was to hold his ground. When the bear came
to within striking distance the farmer struck the bear in the head with
a single blow from his khukuri. The bear fell dead right at the farmers'
feet.

Since there are no supermarkets or refrigeration in this part of the
world the farmer took advantage of the situation and butchered the bear
on the spot. He then sent his several children to the homes of his neighbors
with 30 or 40 pounds of fresh bear meat each. The neighbors, all curious
as to the gift of bear meat, asked how the bear had been killed. The children
related the story which became famous throughout the district.
From that day forward the farmer got a new nickname, "Bhalu," which
means bear in Nepali.

BILL MARTINO 1/2/99

alligator

This is the result of an encounter between Florida Fish and Wildlife
OfficersBill Robb and Dwayne Lindsey and an alligator in the Wendy's
parking lot in Titusville, Florida.

leopard

Ajamlal Ria was returning to Darjeeling from leave when he was set upon
and mauled by a leopard, which mauled his left hand. Asked how he escaped,
he said simply that he had killed the leopard with his kukri. Pressed to
explain how he had managed to get his kukri unsheathed, he said that he
had not drawn it but had hit the beast with his kukri in it's scabbard
and the blow had split the scabbard apart. The rest was easy, he said.
In spite of his wounds, he had skinned the leopard and taken the head to
the office of the administrative district for the reward of Rs. 5.

from THE GURKHAS by Byron Farwell.

Adventures

Dan K.'s Automobile accident

I was a passenger in the back seat of a Suburban on the way to the airport.
All of my blades (big ones anyway) were packed.

A guy driving a speeding car center punched us on my side. Damn seat
belts nearly did me in once again! All those in our car were hurt. I was
damaged the most, but others had mild concussions from heads impacting
windows, etc.

I was the only one not dazed, but the right side was not functional.
I reached over the seat and broke out my trusty "Villager". This was from
that first batch that came over from Shop 2.

I used it to first cut myself loose from the seat belts and then I cut
the others loose. Their buckles may have been working, but I only had one
hand to use and things had gotten cramped. I slid the blade down along
side the body with edge out. Then I turned the knife 90 degrees and using
an "ice pick" grip cut up and out. Worked great.

I next used the khukuri to clear the broken glass out of the way. The
hard part was crawling over the others in the back seat to get out (my
side was a total crunch). Thank God for adrenaline and endorphins. It wasn't
until I had the others out and safely away from the car (possible fire,
more cars piling in from "rubber-neckers", etc.), that I found out just
how busted up I was.

Didn't have to call for help though, the cops had been chasing the other
driver and had lost him for a little while, long enough I'd say. The hardest
part of the whole thing was trying to keep the storm troopers from making
off with my khukuri.
Dan

Dan K.'s friend

A friend of mine (no longer among the living), used to sleep with his
khukuri and a trench knife. This guy was in France in 1918 and he had used
his trench knife to gain that khukuri. It was at the time in possession
of a German fellow. How the German came by it is anyone's guess.
Back in the late '40s he was living in an apartment in Chicago. An
arson fire was started in the hall outside his apartment, so that he and
his wife were trapped in there and facing the prospect of becoming "crispy
critters".
There was no chance of an exit from the window, because he didn't have
anything long enough to use for a rope and the next building was too close
even for firemen to carry a ladder in between the buildings, as they were
on the third floor.
Using the tools that they had: a hammer, the khukuri; and the trench
knife, they cut through the wall adjoining them with the next apartment.
No one was home, so they continued on and repeated the performance
one more time. This time they broke into the corner apartment that had
windows facing the ally and the fire fighters ladder truck could reach
them.
That's enough reason to sleep with your toys.
ps. The walls in that place had 3/4 inch plaster on both sides with
real 2x4's and fire stops in them.

Broken Arrow's foiled Car jacking

I'm in Law Enforcement in the city of San Francisco. The whole system
is so screwed up, that the criminals are not scared to go to jail or the
state pen! Even if I used my firearm in the proper manner, the accusations
from I.A. and the lawsuits from scumbag's family will always be present.

I think the Khukuri has its place as a combat blade. Now since, I have
been using them for almost a year, I would rate them highly like my Barong
in cutting power. A plus side is that the Khukuri could be used for other
things like utility work, while the Barong is meant only as a weapon. I
like long swords also, but in this day and age toting a Katana (even in
a swordbag) will draw some attention. A 20" Khukuri will fit into a back
pack.

When carrying a khukuri in my car, I usually use my front passenger
seat belt through the belt loop of my Khukuri. Then I cover the whole thing
with a t-shirt or any piece of cloth. This keeps my blade handy and safe
in case of a crash. Even thought the standard Khukuri sheath doesn't have
a retaining strap, the bend of the blade and sheath keeps it pretty secure.
In this incident the scumbag tried to jack the other car ahead of me first,
so I had enough time to draw my blade and lay it next to me just in case.

The khukuri used in this incident had fullers like a Gelbu Special,
but also one on top of the spine (from the bend to the tip). Also, this
blade had a chiruwa style tang on it. Originally it was a blem that Uncle
Bill sent. I had to recontour the tang to fit the horn scales. This Khukuri
was made by Kumar and passed my cow spine cutting test. Excellent blade
and makes me smile when I clean and maintain her!

Carjacking is a crime that happens throughout the U.S. and also some
other parts of the world. Mostly violent, but sometimes not. I dealt with
this crime many times due to my profession. I do get mad, when the scumbag
gets away and innocent people get hurt. Scumbags have tried to car jack
my three times so far and all of them failed. The first and second incidents
occurred on Asby Ave. in Berkley, CA. On the first attempt my O.C. (pepper
spray with halon type valve) stopped the scumbag in his tracks, the second
incident was stopped by my chrome plated Desert Eagle .44 Mag. Cool expressions
on their faces. No witnesses, so no reports were needed.

The third incident happened in San Francisco. I was driving down Fell
St. toward The Japan Cultural Center when a scumbag was eyeballing cars
going by. He was standing on the street corner of Fell and Golden Gate.
I saw him trying to gain entry into the vehicle ahead of me and the female
driver of that vehicle screamed and took off! He made eye contact with
me and proceeded to make his way towards me. I realized this guy wants
to play! If, I shot him I could make it justifiable, but there would be
a **** load of paperwork, court appearances, a friendly talk with I.A.,
and last, my HK USP would be taken into evidence. Also, the scumbag’s family
would try to sue me! Sitting next to me in my car, my khukuri seemed to
talk to me! Weird ?!? I had a big smile! ! So, I unsheathed her and when
the scumbag ran up and said "give me your !@@#$$% car!" I said "sure!"
I opened my door and I jumped out with my khukuri in my right hand. I had
a grin on my face and I said "you can have it if you want, but I need your
head first!" Mr. Scumbag seen the beautiful fullered blade on my khukuri
and my willingness to use it (well, this particular khukuri hasn't tasted
blood yet, so I guess it was a good time for the taste). The look on his
face was one of those Kodak moments! I wish I had a Khukuri Cam on my blade!
I attempted to do a Kesa cut (shoulder to hips) on him, but he ran off!
Damn, I missed! Imagine that, no witnesses, 0230 hrs. in the morning and
no sound from my khukuri! Oh well, there will be other chances. A close
call, but dangerous. So far, I have been lucky, but if someone gets the
upper hand then so be it. Even if I die, I need to go out fighting!

Ever since I have been living in this country I found out through experience
that many people prefer to get shot over getting stabbed or losing a limb
or head! Every time I pointed my HK USP at some suspect, some of them would
say "shoot me Mother @#$%&* !" Same with the baton! Never with my blades
(Khukuris, Barong, Kris/Sundang, and even my Katanas)!

The scumbag was using a beat up Glock 17 (which will still work if it
was loaded) . Even though he had a gun, I could and did bridge that gap
very fast! Even if he got a shot off, I'll still get him. The only way
he will stop me is that if he hits me in the CNS (central nervous system)!
I personally feel that in this country, there is a need for both (gun and
blade). Even when I was in the U.S. Army, I always reached for the blade
first! Sort of weird. If given a chance, I will still use the blade
first if the situation warrants it. Several times in my firearms training
using a kill house, I have used my H.I. (20" Sirupati, first blade I got
from Uncle) Khukuri for head decapitations on the 3D targets. My trainers
wondered why they didn't hear any gun shots in the room that I just walked
out of. They asked me why I didn't neutralize the target in there and I
said, "check them out". Heads were rolling on the ground!

Now, don't get me wrong. I don't claim to be some kind of combat expert/
guro. I just do what I have to do, to win. I am still learning each day
and adding to my skills. I need to keep evolving so I won't become extinct.

Copyright (c) 1999-2001 by Howard Wallace, all rights
reserved.This FAQ may not be included in commercial collections
or compilations, or distributed for financial gain, without express written
permission from the author. This FAQ may be printed and distributed
for personal non-commercial, non-profit usage, or as class material, as
long as there is no charge, except to cover materials, and as long as this
copyright notice is included.